ABCs of Disability Planning

Give Kids The World Village is an 89-acre, nonprofit "storybook" resort in Central Florida. Children with critical illnesses and their families are treated to weeklong, cost-free vacations.   Website: https://www.gktw.org/ Facebook: @gktwvillage Twitter: @GKTWVillage Instagram: gktwvillage With the help of many generous individuals, corporations, and partnering wish-granting organizations, Gi...

Andrew Myers is an occupational therapist who specializes in home modifications and universal design. As a clinician, Andrew saw too many patients come home from a hospital or rehab stay only to be forced out of their homes due to inaccessible or unsafe home environments. His mission is to empower people to thrive in their homes and communities by making their homes more accessible. Website: https...

Energizing & Empowering Minds is all about helping parents "live beyond the diagnosis". Originally started in 1996 by Kristin's mother to serve families with bleeding disorders, it has grown to provide psycho-social programs uniquely designed to serve parents and families with any type of medical condition. The classes offered help parents understand their children aren't &qu...

This is an interview with a mom who lost her son, Robert when he was just 18. Robert had a mitochondrial disease. Juli shares with us what she did to get through everything - from the diagnosis to his untimely passing. Juli's husband, Chris, was Active Duty Air Force; so there were times everything fell onto Juli's shoulders. What you're going to hear is an incredible story about personal reserves...

I discovered WheelPad listening to the Accessible Housing Matters podcast . I had no idea there was anybody creating units like this, and I jumped at the chance to learn more. I'm excited to see where this company goes and I'm grateful to RJ for taking the time to speak with me!   WheelPad is a company centered around those who desire choices when faced with injury, disability, or chronic hea...

This marks my 70th episode, hard to believe I've had 68 guests over the last year-plus. This wouldn't be possible without the support of you, the listeners. Thank you! I'm changing the format a little. You shouldn't notice very much change. Mostly the intro/outro music and shifting to seasons. My sound engineer recommended, and I agreed, having seasons to allow us to make changes w...

CoverRight assembled a passionate, diverse, and driven team to help make Medicare easy. They believe healthcare coverage is the most important choice for Americans and are on a mission to make Medicare more transparent and accessible for America’s 60 million Medicare recipients. Their technology and friendly advisors simplify a traditionally complex, opaque, and stressful decision, helping the 10,...

Tracee Garner is a best-selling Author, Speaker, Writing Coach, and Course-Creator who also happens to have a disability and uses a wheelchair. In her recent book, "Disability: An Anecdotal Field Guide for the Rest of Us, Tracee offers you the tips she remembers, stories of adversity and success, to document her personal battles with self and others in a position to grant or deny life-saving...

"You can't pour from an empty cup..." This is something you will hear the Founder of A Mother's Rest (AMR), Andrea Roberts, say frequently. Their mission is "To improve the emotional & physical health of caregivers through proactive, affordable, restorative, respite opportunities. Website: https://www.amothersrest.org/ Email: Innkeeper@amothersrest.org Facebook: https://...

5 Simple Tricks for Becoming a Better Ally 1. Set aside your assumptions. In order to learn, we must first accept that everyone views life through the lens of their own experiences. If we do not adequately understand the alternative techniques and skills that someone possesses, we cannot accurately gauge their capabilities.   2. Ask before attempting to assist someone. Autonomy is as important to...

Envisioned as a residential community development that aspires to catalyze international models, First Place® offers supportive housing and a residential transition program for individuals with autism and for other neurodiverse populations, as well as sites for education, training, and creative inspiration.   Website: https://www.firstplaceaz.org/ Contact them form: https://www.firstplaceaz.org/tr...

This conversation got its start a few months ago when Nazhah Khawaja and I first met. Her mother is an immigrant, originally from Pakistan. Nazhah shared the challenges her mother faced getting medical help. Anyone who knows me, or has been listening/watching for any length of time, knows I have a self-stated overinflated sense of justice. This set me off.   Right then and there I told Nazhah I wa...

Zavikon serves any individual who is seeking career employment who has a visible or invisible disability. They have programs set up for Blind/visually impaired, Deaf/hard of hearing, and neurodivergent to name a few. They focus on the individual’s talents and skills and place employees in all types of careers including finance, technology, clerical, creative, and more.    Once an individual is pla...

What leads a serial tech entrepreneur to start a Financial Services company designed to help seniors, people in recovery, and people with cognitive challenges? The same that drives so many of us - a personal experience and a desire to fix a broken system. Kai's grandmother lived with Alzheimer's, which led to a loss of independence.    Website: https://www.truelinkfinancial.com/   Phone (f...

AbleLink Smart Living Technologies was founded in 1997 with one goal in mind, to allow people with cognitive delays and challenges to live independent and fulfilling lives. In addition to being a firm focused on research and development, they offer four core solutions - Wayfinder, Atlas, the Smartliving Desktop Suite, and Smartliving Mobile Suite.    Like many of you, Dan's been personally imp...

The Autism Society of America was founded in 1965 by Bernard Rimland and Ivar Lovaas together with Ruth C. Sullivan and a small group of other parents of children with autism. Its original name was the National Society for Autistic Children; the name was changed to emphasize that children with autism grow up. The headquarters is in Rockville, Maryland. There are (75) chapters throughout the United...

Danielle Williams is a mom on a mission. She started S.T.I.G.M.A. (Student Timely IEP Growth Modifications Advocates) to assist parents in all aspects of working with their children with disabilities. They assist parents in navigating school systems to ensure children receive their proper mandated services to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally.   S.T.I.G.M.A. provides IEP analysis, pr...

disABLEDperson, Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 Public Charity whose mission is to reduce the unemployment rate of individuals and veterans with disabilities. They offer (3) national job boards, (2) national scholarships, and a school. there is so much to unpack from this episode, I don't think my notes can do it justice. If you are helping someone find a job, or you have disabilities and you're looki...

LifeSherpa is a remote support platform designed to help employers and service organizations reach, teach, and engage more people, more efficiently and effectively, by centralizing and delivering training tools and videos, reminders, reinforcements, self-help resources, and private communications on an individual’s mobile device. Its mission is to "help individuals and organizations realize t...

Although this interview is all about Maryland's Assistive Technology Program, I want to make sure the listeners know every state has a similar program. And, if they're anything like Maryland's, these programs are probably being underused. If you'd like to do more of your own research, I encourage you to check out The Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP) . From th...

Navigating Live as we Know It is a podcast that started to provide an educational and entertaining way to help the people around those with Special Needs better find the way to live their best, most self-determined life possible, and how to manage the challenges of the systems. Click below to learn more: Navigating Life As We Know It: http://envisionmediaservices.com/ Facebook: @NavigatingLifeaswe...

Website: https://ushagent.com/jimcrump Phone: 404-788-9621 (most calls last 8 - 10 minutes)  Schedule: https://calendly.com/jimcrump   This interview was more than I expected. I recorded a video trying to explain health insurance terms, but I realized how little I knew. So I reached out to Jim Crump. We have a conversation about what the terms meant. He reviews the Exchange health plan colors, coi...

Autism and Special Needs Life Coach: https://www.asnlifecoach.com/ ASD Life Coaches: https://www.asdlifecoaches.com/ Email: asdlifecoaches@gmail.com Facebook: @AutismAndSpecialNeedsLifeCoach Twitter: @asnlifecoach Autism and Special Needs Life Coach, LLC is a group of coaches specially trained to teach real-life skills, social skills, communication skills, independent living, and college/career de...

According to the CDC, 61 million adults in the United States live with a disability. That's over 25% of the population!  Source: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html Yet only about 2% of all company websites are considered "accessible". This is a HUGE disconnect, and (to me) seems like a LOT of missed opportunities. Having disabilitie...

Able Transition Consulting - https://www.abletransitionconsulting.com/ Email: kenzie@abletransition.com Facebook: @AbleTransitionConsulting Instagram: @abletransition Person-Centered Planning (PCP) feels like it's become a buzzword to me. It seems like every state has a requirement for individuals with Developmental Disabilities to put a PCP in place when receiving services. However, I've...